


When Life Moves On

by PrezKoko



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 00:51:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5647882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrezKoko/pseuds/PrezKoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mayuzumi wasn't sure why they were celebrating the end of the Winter Cup with a whole bunch of other schools, including the one that defeated them, but he supposed second place wasn't that much of a defeat.</p><p>Meanwhile, Akashi was finding it hard to adjust when so much had moved on without him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Life Moves On

Mayuzumi had expected to lose himself in a good, light novel to forget about the devastating lost they had just suffered. But there was a party after the end of the Winter Cup.

An unofficial one anyway.

It wasn’t so much a party as it was an impromptu gathering. With all the Generation of Miracles and their selected teammates taking over a nearby restaurant and unintentionally chasing away all its other patrons, it might as well as have been a party.

The restaurant was only small. And although the balcony seating might have provided more room, it was far too chilly to even think about in the middle of winter.

All of Seirin was there of course. The champions smiling and laughing and grinning. Mayuzumi wasn’t sure how the Rakuzan team all got coerced into joining. It was a bit weird to be celebrating the end of the Winter Cup with the very people who had defeated them.

But the coach apparently knew the father of Seirin’s coach. And they both knew the coaches of several other teams. So when the Rakuzan basketball team had been dismissed after their rather horrible post-team briefing and receiving the silver medals, Kuroko had invited Akashi along for their celebratory dinner.

“I can’t very well leave my teammates alone,” Akashi said. Yet another statement he would never have uttered before the match. This new Akashi was pretty scary in his own rights.

“Then just get them to come in too!” Takao chirped from beside Midorima.

That was how the two finalist teams, along with the Generation of Miracles, plus their respective teams, all got dragged into the Seirin victory celebrations.

“Sei-chan’s very polite now,” Mibuchi noted suddenly, when most people have eaten their fill and the plates were being cleared away. The party wasn’t exactly winding down, but entering that moment when everyone was too content with digesting their food to speak much.

“It’s weird, Reo-nee. I’m not used to it,” Hayama complained.

“He wasn’t exactly rude before,” Mayuzumi spoke up.

The others made sounds of agreement, which surprised him. They hardly ever acknowledged him off the courts. Maybe losing the championship was making them more sociable. Even with the senpai who would be leaving them in a few months.

Before the conversation could continue, commotion a couple of tables away drew everyone’s attention.

Kagami had stood up in agitation.

“Face it, Akashi! You’re jealous. You’re jealous that Takao and I have what you couldn’t keep.”

“Kagami-kun! Stop it,” Kuroko was attempting in vain to pull Kagami back down.

“Your assumptions are unfounded,” Akashi said calmly, not looking ruffled in the slightest. “I was merely commenting on your-”

“The hell you were!” Kagami snapped.  “You got them to both fall in love with you in middle school. But now that they’ve both got boyfriends, you don’t know what to do with yourself. Don’t start insulting people just because things don’t go your way.”

To a casual observer, Akashi completely maintains his composure. To Mayuzumi, and he assumes the rest of his teammates, Akashi’s eyes were flashing in barely contained anger.

There was also a sense of loss there, which was an unusual expression within Akashi’s eyes. In fact, it almost looked like he was about to cry.

Which was impossible. Akashi didn’t cry. It was not the sort of thing he ever succumbed to.

“I refuse to listen to this,” Akashi said, voice lined with steel. He stood up and headed for the balcony. “I’m going to get some fresh air, please get a control on your emotions in the meantime.”

Kagami gaped. There was practically smoke coming out of his ears with how angry he looked.

“Kagami-kun, please!” Kuroko continued.

“Bakagami! What’s going on?” Seirin’s coach had joined into the conversation.

It was a good thing the adults were catching up with each other downstairs, or they might have broken up the party.

“Poor Sei-chan,” Mibuchi said. “Maybe I should go see if he’s alright.”

“I think someone’s already taking care of it,” Mayuzumi said, nodding to another member of the Generation of Miracles heading towards the glass doors. “But if you want to go freeze your fingers off, be my guest.”

“Ah, Mayuzumi-senpai, were you always so cold?” Mibuchi teased.

Mayuzumi simply shrugged.

\---

Having another personality live a year of your life wasn’t supposed to hurt so much.

It had only been a year. Maybe just over a year. But Kuroko and the rest of his team had worked hard to overcome their own shackles within this year.

Aomine was enjoying basketball again.

Kise has evolved in leaps and bounds.

Murasakibara had finally recognised his love for the game.

Midorima and Kuroko…

Akashi leaned against the railing of the balcony, head down, his fringe covering his eyes as if to shield himself from the world.

Midorima and Kuroko. They had been his. They would have been his, had he ever voiced his interest. Had he not been so preoccupied with ensuring that he didn’t fall behind his teammates. Preoccupied with being the best.

Had he simply taken a moment to look. No, not even that. Had he simply acknowledged them.

But they had known. They had known he was waiting for the right opportunity. That and they were probably waiting for him to choose one of them.

And then his other personality had taken over. The wayward little brother who only cared about victory and threw everything else away.

Akashi gripped the railings harder.

The worse part about that argument with Kagami was that he’d been right. He was entirely, 100% right.

After returning as the core consciousness, he had assumed that Midorima and Kuroko would still be his and his alone.

Not in a committed relationship with others.

A tactless beast and a chatty servant. The two that were chosen over Akashi.

Gritting his teeth, Akashi fought the tears back. He was not going to cry.

Crying after he lost the Winter Cup was one thing. This was something he had control over.

The sound of the door opening filtered through the quiet night air.

Akashi frowned. Was it not clear he wanted to be alone? Who could it be, Reo? Midorima? Kuroko?

He didn’t care. A polite but cutting remark was on the tip of his tongue, and as he prepared to deliver the reproach, the person who had joined him spoke.

“You’re going to catch a cold without your jersey, Akashicchi.”

Kise. Kise holding out his Rakuzan jersey.

Not the way his butlers would hold it out so they could help him into it. Just holding it, in one hand, like a friend.

“Ah,” a sudden thought seemed to occur to Kise. “Should I hold it out? That’s how the servants would do it right?”

Before Kise could start mimicking his butlers, Akashi snatched the jersey out of his hand.

“What are you doing out here, Kise?”

A bright grin answered him. “Someone had to make sure you didn’t freeze to death.” Then, in a more gentle tone, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” The storm of emotions brewing inside him was kept at bay. Akashi maintained his composure. “I was just getting some air.”

Kise didn’t seem to believe him. But he didn’t seem particularly interested in pressing him about it either. He simply grinned again and the two stood in companionable silence.

It was bizarre, the two of them had never spent any time alone like this in all the years they’ve known each other. Yet it wasn’t uncomfortable, it was surprising how quiet Kise could be when he wanted to.

After a while, Kise did eventually break the silence. “Want to head back inside? I think the desserts are here.”

The volatile emotions had calmed somewhat and Akashi was starting to feel the chill. Besides, it’s not like he could just hide outside all night to avoid Kuroko’s rude, new boyfriend.

“Sure.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this last year (as in 2015, which wasn't really all that long ago, but I think I wrote this a while ago) and suddenly felt like posting it!
> 
> Um, no idea where I'm going with it haha. There are also lots of other fics I'm working on right now too so...
> 
> I do think that it's not going to be so easy for the original Akashi to adjust, not when the other Akashi has lived life his way for so long.
> 
> Hopefully this fic will involve a lot of Rakuzan shenanigans~


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